Quebec to 1800

In tracing the formation of the Quebec literary imagination, Maurice Lemire points to the importance of the establishment of a temporal and territorial reference. He believes that a new cosmology particular to Canada was already being formed before the British conquest. The association of the American continent with the myth of a return to utopia was inherited from Europe, but this vision of the New World evolved among the European settlers because of the particular conditions they encountered. The dispersed nature of the population, their involvement in economic activities that made them largely nomadic, the small number of institutions, and the immensity of the continent all combined to promote an ethic of individual performance. The popular imagination found inspiration in heroes known for their capacity to endure the rigours of the North American winter, such as the legendary trapper Jean Cadieux, and strongmen such as Jean-Baptiste Grenon. Later, Étienne Brûlé and other coureurs de bois would be consecrated in this pantheon of popular heroes. The time of origins – the bon vieux temps, or good old days, of popular songs and legends – was vague; so was the territorial domain of the Canadian, but it was also immense, extending over virtually the entire continent.

High literary works from the period of New France were few in number and remained European in form and content, except for a few references to the North American context. An example is a play by Marc Lescarbot, Le théâtre de Neptune (prssented in 1606, published in 1609). None were published in the colony, since the French did not set up a printing press there. In any case, few inhabitants were literate or had access to books. Oral literature, however, played an important role in the creation and maintenance of a French-Canadian identity. Much of the corpus was based on tales brought from the various regions of France where the settlers had originated. Stories, jokes, and songs were the principal forms. There is a strong Roman Catholic content in some stories, while the tales of magic can be traced to pre-Christian sources. The influence of local conditions can also be detected in many stories, especially those about canoes (la chasse-galerie) and the traditional French-Canadian occupations of farming, hunting, fishing, and lumbering. The popular heroes include Ti-Jean, the hunter Dalbec, and the voyageur Jean Cadieux, who is the subject of the earliest French-Canadian folk song.

While the imaginary world was evolving through the genesis of such characters, the physical landscape was changing too. It was becoming dotted with the particular architectural structures that became identified with the French-Canadian universe. Two types of buildings, the parish church and the farmhouse, are characteristic. Both followed architectural models imported from Europe. The typical church was loosely based on those of Bishop François de Laval’s seventeenth-century seigneuries and has its origins in classical French architecture. Saint-François church (1734–36) on the E le d’Orléans, with its typical plain exterior, is a good example. This model was later refined and developed by the architect François Baillairgé, who introduced decorative aspects of the Palladian style, including columns, pillars, and entablature. While the exterior of this type of church remained plain, the interior was often richly decorated. An example is the Ursuline convent chapel in Quebec City, whose interior was carved by Noël and Pierre-Noël Levasseur. This type of religious building can be found not only in Quebec but also in many other French-speaking areas of Canada.

The great number of early artistic works with a religious theme is only partially explained by a popular imagination formed by piety. In fact, both elite (high) and popular (low) artistic forms were put to the service of religious expression. This was so for two reasons. Because of the socio-political context both before and after the cession of French Canada to Britain, the Catholic Church was a critically important social institution, serving until a generation ago many of the functions that were secularized earlier in other societies. Also, in contrast to many Protestant groups, who do not use representational art in the decoration of their places of worship, Roman Catholicism has a long and glorious history of employing the finest visual artists in the decoration of its buildings and the creation of devotional aids such as paintings and statues. French-Canadian churches also frequently contain examples of votive paintings, executed as a sort of visual prayer, usually a supplication or thanksgiving.

The other typically French-Canadian building is the farmhouse. It is based on structures in the French provinces of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou, where most of the French settlers in the St Lawrence valley originated. The typical house was made of wood and had low walls, a steep roof, small windows, and few interior divisions. It was adapted to the northern climate by raising the ground floor to accommodate heavy snow accumulation and by adding multiple chimneys and dormers. The farmhouse also came to be characterized by a verandah, extended belcast eaves supported by a row of narrow columns, and a roof covered in sheet metal. The interiors of these homes contained furniture inspired by French country designs, which were adapted to the types of wood found in New France: butternut, yellow birch, pine, and later maple. French design ceased to be used about 1820, but was revived in the years between 1925 and 1945.